Reviews list for My Dying Bride - A Line of Deathless Kings (2006)

I have a bit of an up and down relationship with the Yorkshire gothic doom crew which I have touched on many times previously. They are a band within whose albums I usually find plenty to enjoy, but they are prone to annoying me with an overly pretentious theatricality that, I personally think, demeans them and diminishes their work. To put it more succinctly MDB are a band I often like, but hardly ever love. Well, maybe that is about to change, because it appears that with A Line of Deathless Kings they finally shed the aspects of their persona that grate on me and accentuated the aspects that appeal. They had done the same to a lesser degree on 2001's The Dreadful Hours which, up until now, had been my favourite MDB album, but here they strip back the overtly gothic schtick even further and rely on their doom metal credentials instead to generate the mournful and melancholy atmosphere, being much the better for it, in my opinion. This approach also allows for some seriously heavy moments to thrust their monumental heads above the tragic atmospherics, the killer riffs of "Love's Intolerable Pain" and "One of Beauty's Daughters" (even with the synths) being such examples that reveal a Line of Deathless Kings to be a high tide mark of heaviness for the band.

The stripping away of the keys (for the most part), strings and Aaron Stainthorpe's ham-fisted, vampiric overacting seems to have given the band a fresh sense of direction and focus and produced an album that I find it much easier to identify with. They still manage to generate a mournful sense of longing, but it feels somehow more honest because it comes directly from the songwriting and not from the addition of layers of atmospherics, making the emotional heft feel more visceral and vital. Along with the atmospherics, the Yorkshiremen have also shed any remaining death metal influence on their sound resulting in their most pure doom metal album to date. The production, of course, is terrific with a clear, yet weighty feel that serves all of the members very well indeed, allowing all their contributions to be appreciated in full.

By the time of this ninth full-length it seems My Dying Bride had gained enough confidence in their own abilities to stop hiding behind the atmospherics and production and lay it all out in the open. I, for one, am absolutely ecstatic because A Line of Deathless Kings shows MDB to genuinely be the band I had always hoped they were capable of being. Sometimes a bit less is a lot more.

A more traditional doom metal album that requires a few listens to work its magic.

My Dying Bride had already well and truly exceeded my expectations since the turn of the new millennium. Prior to that, they’d seemed destined to head down a path that would take them further and further away from their roots, and therefore my personal tastes. 2001’s The Dreadful Hours changed all that, being the best thing the Brits had released in half a decade, and to prove it was no fluke 2004’s Songs of Darkness, Words of Light retained the high standard, leaving no doubt that My Dying Bride were far from finished. Unfortunately, somewhere in between that brilliant album and 2006, the band’s drummer curse struck yet again. After Rick Miah had been forced to quit the band in 1997 when he contracted Crohn’s disease, his replacement Bill Law was ordered to leave the country (back to Canada) due to visa issues less than a year later. They’d seemingly broken the curse after Shaun Taylor-Steels had been part of the band for five very successful years, only for a reoccurring ankle problem once again leaving My Dying Bride drummer-less. With a full length album ready to be recorded and an otherwise stable line-up, they decided to bring in John Bennett from fellow British death doom band The Prophecy to perform as a session musician to get them across the line. With that sorted, My Dying Bride entered Academy Studios in spring 2006 to record A Line of Deathless Kings.

I have to admit, the first few times I listened to what is the bands ninth full length studio album, I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. After Songs of Darkness, Words of Light had been one of the darkest releases in their long history, and one filled with both immense misery and beauty, My Dying Bride had decided to record a pretty straight forward doom album. Gone were Aaron’s numerous emotive styles of vocals (including death growls) and in their place was fairly one dimensional “singing”. While nothing on the new album called possibly be labelled upbeat, the ominous and desperately gloomy tone of the last few albums had been softened as well, and this more straight forward approach seemed to suggest My Dying Bride were once again attempting to be more accessible, just as they did in the Like Gods of the Sun period back in the mid nineties. That didn’t impress me to say the least and If I’d reviewed A Line of Deathless Kings during those first couple of weeks of owning it, I likely would have been quite harsh, and expressed my disgust in no uncertain terms. I can pinpoint the exact moment when I realised I was being unfair. Preparing for a long drive, I’d selected a few albums to keep me occupied in the car, with A Line of Deathless Kings amongst them. Let me just say that I cranked the album loud, and suddenly found myself completely engrossed, re-playing it three straight times before I reached my destination a changed man.

Unlike the last few albums, for which the strengths were effectively enjoyed through a decent pair of headphones, A Line of Deathless Kings simply demands to be played loud. Its powerful production and more traditional Candlemass-like doom riffs make it less of a personal affair and more of a neighbourhood waking one. It’s in this environment, and I imagine in concert too, that these tracks have real impact. I won’t suggest that this album matches the classics in their discography as it does still lack the creativity and passion that My Dying Bride emanates in their prime. It also suffers in the closing stages with the second half simply unable to match the rousing quality of the first few tracks. And I Walk With Them in particular has the most stunning section where Aaron breaks free and lets his emotions fly in combination with driving double bass kicking. Moments like this remind me of early Solitude Aeturnus which can only be a good thing, and it displays a new feather in the band’s hat that I hope they will one day integrate into their more death metal motivated sound. Other highlights are To Remain Tombless, L’amour Detruit and the stunning Thy Raven Wings. A Line of Deathless Kings is yet another worthy My Dying Bride album, albeit one I had to learn to love. Once I overcame my initial discontent, the album quickly got under my skin, so I highly recommend any potential listeners out there make sure they give this album more than just a passing spin.